Buhle Ngaba brings her award-winning show BLING! back to The Market Theatre Laboratory, from 28 – 31 May 2026 at the Ramolao Makhene Theatre, Newtown.

Buhle Ngaba brings her award-winning show BLING! back to The Market Theatre Laboratory, where she first developed it as part of the 2024 Barney Simon Residency, of which she was a recipient.

Following a triumphant, sold-out debut at Wiener Festwochen 2024 (Vienna), and an acclaimed season at Afrovibes Festival 2025 (Amsterdam) award-winning South African actor, writer and researcher Buhle Ngaba is bringing BLING! back home to local audiences.

The show will run from 28 – 31 May 2026 at the Ramolao Makhene Theatre, Market Square.

Ngaba’s critical and commercial success overseas deserves to be repeated in the country where it was created, and her South African audience is set for a sell-out season.

Directed by Ilana Dlangalala-Cilliers, BLING! draws on the story of the Cullinan diamond, while the broader narrative dances and dazzles its way through South Africa’s journey towards democracy, intertwining history, culture and the pursuit of justice. Despite ongoing calls from the South African public for its return, the Cullinan Diamond is still held in British possession.

Drawing on the story of the Cullinan diamond, this production’s broader narrative dances and dazzles its way through South Africa’s journey towards democracy, intertwining history, culture and the pursuit of justice by those whose fortunes have been forged by the industry.

Despite ongoing calls from the South African public for its return, the Cullinan Diamond is still held in British possession. In an era during which many African nations are advocating for the repatriation of their cultural artefacts, this production personifies the historical gem as the charismatic, plucky and eccentric Phatsima Khullinan—a diamond with a dream and mission to rectify historical injustices and restore cultural heritage.

Set in a court of law, Phatsima’s tale traces the sharp edges of history: she is a naïve character probing within the present and past, providing opportunities to imagine alternative histories and futures beyond what we have accepted as our reality.

Like our artefacts, South Africa’s artistic gems deserve a return to home soil for appreciation by local audiences.

According to Resistance Theatre Reviews, “BLING! cleverly plays with the question of reparations for stolen and looted goods from formerly colonised countries…framed by the trial of Phatsima…returning to their homeland only to discover they are neither welcome nor wanted. Their former status has changed, as the country itself has changed.”

Kurier newspaper alludes, “The metaphor of BLING! is much more than a parable of oppression by the colonial powers. Ngaba tells of functions and systems that are always inherited, that never stop.”

Buhle Ngaba is a multi-award winning South African writer, researcher, speaker, actor and director. Her interests include developing new thought processes around the role of storytelling and creativity in unearthing and amplifying African women’s voices from the archive to inspire new narratives and push the boundaries of performance. She is a recipient of the prestigious Brett Goldin bursary, the Barney Simon Trust Residency, and a Pro Helvetia Swiss Arts Council studio residency. She was nominated for a Fleur Du Cap Theatre Award for Best Leading

Actress, has won two South African Kanna Theatre Awards including Best Upcoming Artist, and was most recently awarded Best Actress at the 2025 Toyota Stellenbosch Woordfees.

The Market Theatre Laboratory is a Division of The Market Theatre Foundation, an agency of the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.

For information on reservations and further enquiries, contact The Market Theatre Laboratory on 011 838 7498 or contact Thandeka Nheke on thandeka@marketlab.co.za.

For media enquiries, contact Bongiwe Potelwa (Publicist at The Market Theatre Foundation) at bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za or 011 832 1641 ext. 224.

Notes for editors and members of the media

BLING’s Johannesburg season runs from 28 – 31 May at the Ramolao Makhene Theatre, Market Square.

For more information about the production, please visit https://buhlengaba.com   

Follow Phatsima at @southafricasdiamond on Instagram

For more information about BLING! and to buy tickets, visit https://buhlengaba.com/portfolio/bling/.

BLING! is produced by Maru Factory in association with NJ Moses Consultation and NAC.

Bongiwe Potelwa
bongiwep@markettheatre.co.za
079 967 3441
The Market Theatre Foundation
http://www.marketlab.co.za